Beautiful Morning

It is a beautiful morning. Ares and I took off around 8:00 for a morning run. He's doing better. I think he gets too tired if we run every day, so I am trying to give him (and myself) a day or two off in between runs. I may end up running some days without him. We'll see.

We did the usual Riverside loop, sprint up the hill, to the library (not around it this time), and then back to do a sprint up half of the hill. We ended up with 3.3 miles. It was a good mixture of running and walking, with more running.

One thing really bothers me on these runs -- all the dogs that are loose. The owners may know they won't hurt us, but we don't. There was one at Riverside Park, so we had to stop until his owners got him. There was the same one that is ALWAYS loose on Jefferson, so we had to chase that one away. Then there was one by the florist, and we had to chase that one away. Because of all of these loose dogs, I cannot take both Ares and Ese for a walk by myself. I can't protect both dogs. And if I cross the street to get away from them, I'm afraid they will run out in the street and get hit by a car. Why can't dog owners take responsibility?

That's my rant for the day.

Gotta run ...

Making Progress

Ares and I are making progress with our runs. I gave him yesterday off -- we only went for two short walks and did no running. This morning it is a nice, relatively cool morning, so I decided we were going to try to run.

I had to practically drag Ares the first few blocks. I decided I was going to turn around at Riverside Park, bring him back home, and go off by myself. But, by the time we reached the park, Ares saw a rabbit or two and decided he did want to go for at least a fast walk. We gradually worked into a run, and by the time we finished he was running. I think he will sleep well today!

We did the Riverside loop with the sprint up the hill by my house to Jefferson, over to Clinton (we didn't go to the library this time). Then we went back and did a "mini-Riverside" loop with a sprint up half the hill. We ended up with 3.35 miles, and the better part of the last 2.25 miles was mostly running.

Gotta run ...

Monday Morning Run

Well, today started out with a not-so-good run. Ares was very reluctant to even go outside this morning. I don't quite understand it. It is a nice, cool morning, not too hot, and a little overcast, which makes it good for being outside. He tripped me twice (not on purpose, I hope), and just kept pulling at the leash. Ares and I ended up BARELY finishing the Riverside Loop, and I felt more stressed than when we had started out.

So, I decided to drop him off at home and go for a solo run. It was nice! No dog was pulling at me trying to get home, and I was able to listen to music (Ares doesn't like it when I have the ipod). I ended up with about 1.8 miles with Ares (I turned off my GPS to stop and let him "do his business" and forgot to turn it back on), and then 2.15 miles by myself. So, I almost hit 4 miles today. And now I feel more relaxed.

I think I will follow this routine. If Ares does not feel like running, I'll get his Riverside Loop walk/run in, and then go off by myself. I'll take him the entire time if he feels like running. That way he gets at least some exercise every morning, and I can get my runs in.

Knee is .... OK.

Gotta run ...

Another Saturday Morning

I didn't get out and run any mornings this week. I did get quite a few walks in, though.

Today is a nice, fairly cool morning. Ares got up at 6:00 a.m. to eat, so after he was finished I put on my running gear and off we went. At first he was reluctant to run, but then he started chasing squirrels and enjoyed himself. We did the usual Riverside loop, sprint up the hill, and then went to the library. Riverside is finally paved, so that part of the run was nice and smooth.

We ended up with 3 miles. The first 2 miles were mainly running, and the last mile was probably half running. I hope to get him (and myself) back up to at least a 3 mile run before the summer 5K's start.

Gotta run ...

Ares post-run

Ares decided he needed a shower, too. Now if I can just teach him how to open the shampoo bottle ...

Saturday Morning Run - sort of

I've been walking a lot this week, but have not run since Sunday. I have to fight the feeling that I need to give this up. My ankle, knee, and now big toe (all on my left side) have been sore. My left toe/foot had some spasms that made me stop in my tracks.

But, I have banished the thought of giving up running. It is a beautiful morning. So, Ares and I went off this morning. We did the usual Riverside Loop (trying to avoid all the holes still present from all of the street work), the sprint up the hill, and then we walked/ran to the library. We saw the sun over the river from the library grounds. We actually did more running than I thought we would. We ended up with just over 3 miles total.

My ankle is now fairly sore, but the pain in my foot started to go away after about 1/2 mile. Mentally I feel great. I'll just have to slowly build up on the ankle. So, here we go again.

Gotta run ...

Sunday Morning Run

Ares and I didn't run yesterday, but Ares and I did get three walks in (one with my daughter Kate, one with my son Earl, and one with Earl and the chihuahua, Ese). We probably walked 5-6 miles total.

We went for a decent run/walk this morning. We ran most of the 2-mile Riverside loop with the usual sprint up the hill. Then we went for our cool-down walk. Ares started limping a bit, but he still wanted to walk. We ended up by the library again. It was a beautiful morning and Ares enjoyed being by the river. He eventually stopped limping. He may have just had a stone or something in his paw. So we ended up with just over three miles.

He's enjoyed himself since we got home. I decided to get the lawn mowed before I took a shower and went on with my day, so he spent most of the morning outside. He can't decide if he needs to protect me from the mower, or if he should be very afraid himself. I let him explore it when it was off, so he did relax a bit, enjoy the sunshine, and just watched me mow. Now he will probably rest most of the day. I believe when he gets three walks in a day (with one sometimes running), he is much calmer in the evening and sleeps well.

Gotta run ...